Posted on: 11 April 2020
We sadly tell you of the death of Sara Trollope, a well-respected and long standing staff member in Hillingdon. She was Matron for Older Adult Mental Health Services.
We send our love and support to her husband Gary and her children and to her colleagues, who have written the tributes below.
It is with great sadness that I am writing to inform you of the passing of Sara Trollope, Matron for Older Adult Mental Health Services in Hillingdon.
Sara worked tirelessly with dedication, commitment and passion for older adult patients, always striving for best care and outcomes. She was highly valued for her empathy and support for carers and patients’ families and her leadership and support of all of her staff.
Sara had a long and successful career in the NHS and CNWL and was well known and highly regarded across the Trust. There has been an outpouring of love for Sara today in response to the terribly sad news.
Goodall’s Director of Nursing, Helen Willetts, wrote: “Sara guided many many nurses, myself included to a better understanding of how to care for older adults with mental health problems and dementia. I once had the joy of watching her encourage and support a very distressed patient into a calmer frame of mind. It was so dignified, skilled and full of value for the person. We have lost a wonderful advocate for nursing older people but I shall remember her whenever I go to Woodlands and see her legacy in other caring and compassionate nurses working their magic.”
Sara’s husband Gary spoke of her devotion to her family. She will be dearly missed by Gary, daughters Gemma and Freya and her twin sons Kyle and Michael. Our thought and prayers are with Sara’s family, friends and colleagues at this difficult time.
Kam Rai on behalf of Hillingdon Mental Health SMT.
Dr Paul Hopper adds:
“Sara had that unbeatable combination of kindness, selflessness and total determination to get things right for patients. Just a few weeks ago I went through Oaktree with her, checking the dementia friendly changes that had been put in place. She knew every little detail, she talked in her understated way about how she’d solved problems, and she had total conviction that the improvements really mattered to patients – even though they couldn’t express it themselves. She was an example to every one of us.”